


What’s Left?

by Strangexunusual



Category: Beetlejuice - All Media Types, Beetlejuice - Perfect/Brown & King
Genre: Bonding, F/M, Families of Choice, Family, Family Bonding, Found Family, Gen, Multi, One Big Happy Family, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:02:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27807271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strangexunusual/pseuds/Strangexunusual
Summary: Adam and Barbara couldn’t ask for more than the family that they gained in the months following their deaths but are they truly happy or are they hiding it?
Relationships: Adam Maitland/Barbara Maitland, Lydia Deetz & Adam Maitland & Barbara Maitland
Kudos: 12





	What’s Left?

Adam and Barbara couldn’t ask for more than the family that they had gained in the months following their deaths. Lydia, Charles, Delia. It felt a little strange, having the Deetzes around. It still scared the two ghosts when they came downstairs early every morning to find the Deetzes all already in the kitchen and eating their breakfast, with each day that passed making Adam and Barbara a little more comfortable having the Deetzes around.

Out of all of them, they were arguably closest to Lydia (with Delia a close second due to her always feeling their energies and then laughing it out with them when they both revealed themselves doing something to mess with them. It was all in good fun, they didn’t want to actually scare the Deetzes unlike all those months ago. Charles... was nice and all, but the Maitlands somewhat felt the need to not talk with him unless it was something important or regarding parenting Lydia, something that the Maitlands were happy to do when Charles and Delia were either at work or out of town. 

The one room remaining untouched, the attic, was the only room left in the house that still belonged to the Maitlands (it wasn’t like they weren’t allowed to go anywhere else in the house if they pleased, they were but it felt a little odd to be refined to the attic of what was once, and in a sense still is, their house). 

The attic had also become incredibly dusty/dirty in the past few weeks, and the two ghosts decided it was time to give it a cleaning. The room had been the only one not lived in back when the Maitlands were still alive, so this was exactly what they kinda expected it to be. Not only that, but they had to redecorating the entire attic space to make it feel more - for lack of better wording, lived in. 

Smack! The duster Barbara had summoned and possessed in an attempt to dust the attic launched itself at a wall and broke in two.

‘Oh well,’ the female ghost sighed, using her powers to pick up the two broken pieces of the former duster and setting them both aside before summoning a washcloth to continue on with what she was doing. ‘I’ll continue with the dusting later, I guess.’

Her husband turned to her, sensing that she was feeling a little nervous - more old Barbara than new Barbara. “Barb, you okay? You’ve been feeling a little down lately and that’s got me worried. Is something bothering you?” 

She leaned against him when he held his arms out but kept her eyes focused solely on the attic floor. 

“Nono, I’m fine,” she lied, which Adam just happened to catch. When she looked up at him and acknowledged the funky smile he was giving her, she relented, “alright....... I guess something’s bothering me...”

She got quiet for a minute and Adam urged her to continue,

“Don’t you think that it’s a bit strange this is the only room left in the house that’s still... ours?” she asked, glancing up at him again. He moved a loose strand of her wavy, blonde hair out of her baby blue eyes and looked into them.

“Not at all,” was his response. He looked around the entirety of the attic before he returned his attention to her, holding her close to him. “We have the Deetzes to thank for that. Imagine if things... had gone differently for us...” 

Barbara shifted a little, nestling a little more into her husband’s hold. It was clear that she didn’t want to think about what things would be like without the Deetzes around, as she was twirling a strand of her blonde hair around her finger. Adam rested a hand around her shoulder, a genuine smile plastered on his face. Pecking her on the cheek, he focused his attention over towards the door at the slightest sounds of the door knob turning. 

“You can come in if you want, Lydia!” he called out. “We’re not doing anything at the moment.” 

The teen pushed open the door and entered the attic, spotting the Maitlands over in the far corner. “Thank goodness. I thought I heard Barbara crying a little as I came up to the attic. Is everything alright?” 

“Just peachy,” said Barbara, clearly lying. Lydia saw an uncomfortable look in the female ghost’s eyes and sat her down with Adam joining the two of them not too long afterwards. 

“Barb, just tell me what’s up,” said Lydia in a quiet voice (yet still loud enough for the female ghost to hear), wrapping her arms around her ghost mother. 

“It’s just... I don’t want to talk about this right now,” said Barbara meekly, turning a little transparent. Something Lydia guessed happened when a ghost was nervous about something and/or felt it wasn’t important. 

“Barbara, c‘mon. I’m here for you. We’re all here for you. You can tell me what’s going on. It’s fine,” said Lydia with a smile, Adam nodding in response. 

“I... well... I...” Barbara bit her lip, unsure if Lydia would’ve wanted to hear something like this. She was a teenager after all. 

“Barb? You okay, ghost mom?” questioned Lydia with a look of confusion plastered on her face, noting that the ghost had since become quiet with her eyes focused towards the attic floor. 

‘Mom’. That one word that Barbara had always yearned to hear back when she was still alive. Well, she considered Lydia to be a sort of adoptive daughter (same as Adam). And it was rare to hear Lydia refer to them as her ghost parents, the only implications being when she was worried about something. 

At that, Barbara teared up a little and both Adam and Lydia had the feeling it was emotional. Adam squeezed his wife’s hand and wiped a few ghostly tears from her eyes as Lydia pulled away from her and looked worriedly at her.

“Was it something I said?” 

“No, not at all.... not at all,” said Barbara after a while, having completely calmed down. “It’s just it’s rare to hear you call me your ghost mom.” 

“Barbara, look,” said Lydia, once again wrapping her arms around the female ghost in a hug, which Barbara quickly returned. “I see you and Adam as parental figures in my life just as much as my dad and Delia. I love you guys both just as much as I love them.” 

Barbara became emotional again, tearing up just as Adam joined in on the hug. “Oh... Lydiaaaa....”

Lydia smiled softly at her ghost parents and got one - no two in return.


End file.
